Teen forced to hold Trump sign as punishment

EAGLE, Colo. -- In a heated political climate, 18-year-old Luis Juarez admits he let his emotions get the best of him.

“I did get caught up in the passion,” Juarez said. “You see me, you know my last name. I feel people can discern why I find the name (Trump) offensive.”

Walking through the halls of his college in Eagle, Juarez says he spotted a couple of Trump for President Signs which he then cut in half with a pair of scissors.

“It felt good to do it, but not everything that feels right is right,” Juarez said.

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It’s against the law, and something Eagle County Republicans like Kaye Ferry did not like one bit.

“We were a few feet away from this happening so it felt really personal,”’ Ferry said.

They could have called the cops and pressed charges for vandalism but instead tried something different.

“We could have done that but we got involved with restorative justice,” Ferry said.

Both came to an agreement. Luis would repay Eagle County Republicans for the two signs. He would write an apology to the community in the local paper. Lastly, he would stand on a busy street in Eagle holding a Trump for President sign.

“I got a lot of thumbs down, I got flipped off a few times, I got a few thumbs up,” Juarez said.

It’s the third part of the punishment that Juarez says he didn’t like and why several say they wanted to stand with him.

“Make him do something else for the campaign, but don’t humiliate him holding signs for somebody he does not support,” Lupita Guerra said.

Some say the punishment was over the line, but Eagle County GOP leaders say it’s a punishment fitting for the crime of vandalism.

“In order to get back to square one and get level with Mr. Trump we suggested he stand on a street corner holding two signs he destroyed, two days he would sit there an hour each day,” Ferry said.

While the cutting of Trump signs has many divided, both Luis and Eagle County Republicans now both agree on one thing: it’s not a good idea to vandalize property just because you don’t like the candidate.

“These signs are private property, you can’t just do whatever you want with them,” Ferry said.